No Chromebook For Me!
With the release of the Samsung Series 5 550 chromebook I have been seriously considering going google for my next mobile computer. But As I started evaluating what it is I need from a mobile workstation, I realized I won’t be able to do everything I need with the chromebook. While I do spend the majority of my time in a chrome browser using cloud apps, I’m also an IT guy that needs to be able to access Windows Servers remotely. The most basic and universal way to do this is with RDP. Chrome OS does not support RDP and the HTML 5 options that Google points to are pay to play and require installing more access infrastructure on my servers than I care to.
While there is a native Citrix ICA client, I’m not running a Citrix environment. My school district has invested heavily in VMWare View and I don’t see us moving away from that just so that I can connect to a few servers. Not having a native RDP client in Chrome OS (or a VMWare client) also limits the opportunity to give my users chromebooks because I can’t provide access to those legacy windows applications they use daily without adding another layer (and more costs) onto my current infrastructure.
Having provided Teachers and staff first Ubermix Netbooks and then MacBooks as we migrated away from locked down Windows laptops, I was always able to provide access to those pesky legacy Windows apps through a generic RDP session back to a Terminal Server or a VM of their old desktop. I could easily do this because both Linux and Mac have free RDP clients that can connect directly to the server without additional components. So why isn’t there a native RDP client for Chrome OS? We all live in a Windows world. To pretend otherwise is silly. This is shifting, but not providing native access in the short term is frustrating. I don’t see what would be so hard about porting rdesktop to Chrome OS since Chrome OS it’s basically linux. The only people that can do this of course are at Google, since they control the OS. It would open up an entire migration path for users to switch quickly to Chromebooks without having to invest in expensive infrastructure just to connect to legacy windows apps.
It’s very disappointing in a way. I’m basically being forced by Google to buy a MacBook. PC Hardware (and battery life) is all just Blah to me after having been on a MacBook for the past year. I was hoping the Chromebook Series 5 550 would be the one to free me from Apple’s clutches. I really do use Chrome 90% of the time. Unfortunately the other 10% is invariably spent in RDP rebooting a Windows server…
Shawn, 
Jim, 
Andrew Schwab, and 3 others are discussing. 
There is no box 
Karl L Hughes (@KarlLHughes) 1:58 pm on June 2, 2012 Permalink |
I’d have to agree with you. I think the Chromebook is still a novelty for techies. Someday, it will be great to have everything in the cloud (IMO), but as of now, it’s too bare bones for developer and IT use. If my mom were looking at getting a new computer I might turn her on to it since she basically just uses the internet and word processors.
Andy 2:10 pm on June 2, 2012 Permalink |
We’re going to evaluate the newer Chromebooks and the Chromebox for use in our school system. It just seems like users are more like 99 percent in the cloud now. Staff that need Windows or Mac specific software will stay on those work stations, but the vast majority of our students seem to have use patterns that could be well-supported with browser-based applications. Chromebooks also seem to have the added benefit of being less attractive for thieves… a real issue for us. Roll outs and maintenance also seem too dead simple to ignore. I can see the limitations for power users, but for average student/faculty use, Chromebooks look rather compelling.
MPS 1:31 pm on August 19, 2012 Permalink |
I think the idea with Chrome OS is to lock down users as far as possible for security and ease of administration purposes. For sysadmins who want to access servers, the best option is installing Linux on your Chromebook using the developer switch and RDPing from that.
MPS 1:48 pm on August 19, 2012 Permalink |
Having said that, it is quite possible that someone will come up with a local server based RDP application for that. In other words you go to a web page on a corporate Linux web server, and log into a server based HTML5 RDP web application, which logs you into your Windows server via RDP. This would be a much better way to control access security in an enterprise setting, and also the way the Ericom remote access for Chromebooks work now (see http://www.ericom.com/AccessNow_DemosIntro.asp and http://www.ericom.com/demo_AccessNow.asp ). However for server access, you probably would want to run your own server rather than do it through Ericom’s.
MPS 1:58 pm on August 19, 2012 Permalink |
PS there is another way of doing remote desktop on Windows, Mac or Linux using Chromebooks. You can use Chrome browser installed on the remote machine to control it. For security reasons, someone has to log into the remote machine and accept your request and give you a PIN over the phone for you to gain control.
This is really best as a desktop remote help tool. You can get it from Chrome Store as a Beta.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gbchcmhmhahfdphkhkmpfmihenigjmpp
Andrew Schwab 6:31 pm on January 23, 2013 Permalink |
I have been using the Chrome Remote Desktop app. My only issue with it is again, I have to install something on the server to connect to it. And on Windows Servers, you can only have one Chrome RDP session running. No Multi-user support. So I would still like a native RDP client that just worked with plain vanilla RDP in Windows.
Jim 1:32 pm on April 11, 2013 Permalink |
Check out Chrome RDP in the Chrome Web store
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-rdp/cbkkbcmdlboombapidmoeolnmdacpkch?hl=en-US
Shawn 1:19 pm on June 6, 2013 Permalink |
I agree with you all, Chromebook with RDP is a pain.
Chrome RDP works well but you have to pay for it. Come on Google you should have something already made up (or buy them up).